Russian Court Sentences US Reporter to 16 Years in Spy Trial

A Russian court sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a penal colony after finding him guilty of espionage, the Interfax news service reported Friday.

The court’s verdict came after a closed-door hearing in Yekaterinburg’s Sverdlovsk Regional Court that had been moved up almost a month from its originally scheduled date of Aug. 13. Prosecutors earlier Friday said they were seeking an 18-year sentence for the high-profile American prisoner.

Evan Gershkovich at Sverdlovsk Regional Court in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 26.

Photographer: Natalia Kolesnikova/Getty Images

Gershkovich, 32, and the newspaper have denied Russian Federal Security Service accusations that he was spying for the CIA when he was detained during a reporting ...